Affordable Care Act

One of the major issues we will be facing in 2013 is the new option for states to expand eligibility for the Medicaid program under the terms and conditions of the Affordable Care Act. As a result of the US Supreme Court decision last summer upholding the constitutionality of the ACA, expanding Medicaid up to 138% of the federal poverty level is now optional for the states. State electing to expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014 will receive 100% federal match for the following 3 years, transitioning down to 90% match in 2017 and beyond.

Current estimates are that in many states a large proportion of the single adults that will become eligible for Medicaid in this new “expansion” population have a diagnosis of mental illness. As a result, NAMI is taking an active role in ensuring that states take up this new option for expanded coverage – and making sure that this expanded coverage includes a strong mental health benefit.

More information on Medicaid eligibility expansion and the ACA is available at the following links:

1. The Supreme Court Health Law Decision: What It Means for People Living with Mental Illness
2. Explaining Healthcare Reform: Questions About Medicaid’s Role (pdf)
3. HealthCare.gov: This site is geared towards consumers and provides general information about the Marketplace and health insurance. Consumers can sign up for email and/or text message updates.
4. Marketplace.cms.gov: This page has tools and resources to help people prepare to apply, enroll and get coverage in 2014. At this site, you will find the following information:
   • Census data on where the uninsured live—down to the PUMA level;
   • Widgets and badges you can use on your own websites;
   • Multimedia presentations explaining the Marketplace;
   • Brochures, drop-in articles, and other information in English, Spanish, Russian, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese; and
   • You can also sign up for updates.
5. State-by-state calls: Please check the Open Door Forum page for the tentative schedule and updates on the state-by-state calls that will occur throughout 2013. Here you will find the best point of contact for your state in one of the ten CMS Regional Offices nationwide.

NAMI Florida Survey

Please take a minute to participate in a research survey conducted by NAMI Florida. The questions are designed to identify difficulties and problems you have experienced with managed care, Medicaid/Medicare or private insurance getting access to medications.

To participate, please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C99QZPQ

Medicare Part D: Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment is the time period between October 15 and December 7 when Medicare beneficiaries can shop for Medicare Part D plans to fit their financial and healthcare needs. On January 1, any changes made during this period go into effect.

Click here for more information.

NAMI Videos

Why do we see so many people with severe mental illnesses on the street, often off treatment and nearly always alone? Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston, whose own father, Richard Ruston, has paranoid schizophrenia and at times lived on the street, takes viewers along on a deeply personal journey to reconnect with her estranged father. Can she make sense of the devastation that his illness has caused? Should she resume her childhood role of acting as her dad’s doctor, or is caring for him in that way hindering her from truly caring for him?

Watch a clip from Delaney Ruston's documentary Unlisted: A Story of Schizophrenia.